January 7, 2018

Do You Walk in Love?

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:1-2

How accepting are you? Do you welcome people who are different, whether it’s someone from another culture or a different faith? Do you treat those who are poor with the same respect as you treat those who are wealthy? Do you treat someone warmly, regardless of their social status?

Don’t be so quick to say “Of course!” Our churches are filled with people who are only interested in welcoming people just like them into their fold. “Different” need not apply.

We’re quick to make excuses. We need people who can give back, whether financially or with volunteer hours. We’re not set up to deal with “issues” some folks might bring, things like drug addiction, depression, abusive relationships. Some other church is more equipped to help them. That’s what we tell ourselves, anyway.

Jesus never said to pass our obligations on to someone else. He never said to make people clean themselves up before we extend our hands in love. He also never said our rules and opinions should matter more than loving the lost, the broken, the hungry. In fact, Jesus said just the opposite.

Let’s take it outside of the church for a moment. Do you welcome the new co-worker to lunch with your friends? Do you invite the new neighbors over for the neighborhood cookout? Do you include the new child at school in your own child’s playgroup? Do you extend the hand of welcome, the hand of grace, the hand of acceptance to those you don’t know and those who might not “fit in?”

Who have you rejected today? Who have you excluded from your circle? Who have you made to feel unwanted, unnoticed, unwelcome? Who is walking alone today because you didn’t make an effort to invite them into your world, even if only for a moment, a meal, a short conversation?

Pastor Ryan Martin said yesterday that when we treat people with love and respect, we see a change in them. He’s right. Sometimes all it takes is a kind word and genuine smile to see people blossom right in front of you.

Here’s a basic truth: God loves the outcasts whether we love them or not. God sees the outcasts whether we see them or not. It’s not how hard you love those in your circle that counts. It’s how hard you love those on the perimeter of your world that draws people toward Christ.

We focus on the ugliness in Washington. We condemn those who are different. We spew hatred toward those we paint with a wide brush stroke as evil. And we do it all in the name of Jesus. How ridiculous and how sad.

We justify ourselves using God’s own words. We pull things out of context. We focus on one sentence, ignoring all the others around it. We excuse our own sins while harshly judging someone who sins differently.

Martin noted that God’s Word is a sword. The Bible tells us that. But here’s the rest of that: It can be used for good or evil. God’s Word can be used to strengthen His Kingdom or tear it down.

It’s easy to point fingers and blame others for all the evils in this world. That’s not your job or mine. Judgment belongs to God. Our job is to love people and, in so doing, shine a light that draws them toward Christ.

January 3, 2019

Chosen

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” – John 15:16

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

– 1 Peter 2:9

Have you ever been rejected? Most of us have. It hurts, doesn’t it?

All of us want to be accepted for who we are. We want to be enough. We want to be part of the “in” crowd, whatever stage of life we happen to be in. It doesn’t really matter if it’s work, church, neighborhood, service organization or social group. We want to feel welcomed and valued. Sadly, that doesn’t always happen.

Even when the majority like us, there’s always going to be someone who just doesn’t want us around. There’s always going to be that person who criticizes everything we say or do. We know it’s not about us. It’s about them. But it stings just the same.

Unfortunately, sometimes that sting hits where it hurts us the most. Have you ever been rejected by your spouse? Affairs happen every day but the betrayal cuts deep into the most vulnerable parts of us. The same is true when we are rejected by parents, children, even our employer. It threatens our stability, our belief in who we are.

Fortunately, we don’t ever have to worry about being rejected by Jesus. We don’t have to clean ourselves up. We don’t have to pretend we’re someone we’re not. We don’t have to be brilliant or beautiful or have it all together. All we have to do is show up and He meets us with open arms right where we are. How amazing is that?!

Jesus tells us that He chose us. Jesus picked us to be on His team. He wanted us. He values us. We are part of His family. That’s something that still just amazes me. No matter how many times we’ve faced rejection, we are gathered close and welcomed by the only One who matters.

We are people of the light. We are called to service. We are called to honor Him with our lives. We are set apart. We are His. Don’t ever lose sight of that.

Life hurts sometimes. People don’t always like us. People don’t always include us. But we have a Heavenly Father who loved us enough to send His Son to die so that we could live with Him forever. Let yourself be filled with His Spirit. Let His peace soothe your vulnerable places.

You are chosen. You are loved. You are welcomed just as you are.

October 22, 2018

Rejection

He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. – Isaiah 53:3

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” – John 15:18

She pretended it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t want to go anyway. But the truth was in the sadness of her eyes. She wasn’t invited. All her friends, that group she claimed as her own, were going but she wasn’t invited.

Rejection stings, doesn’t it? We’ve all been there. We aren’t included in the ladies’ lunch. We’re passed over for the promotion we thought was ours. We’re excluded from the group, not invited to the party, sitting alone on the pew.

Jesus gets it. Think about it for a moment. Jesus was popular with loads of followers for a time. But as He began His ministry, his own family thought He was nuts. And at the end, even those closest to Jesus, left Him to face a cruel trial and death. All that remained were John, Jesus’ mother, and a few others.

Maybe those who followed Jesus, all those crowds, only hung around because Jesus was a healer and a miracle worker. He could feed thousands with just a small amount of bread and fish. He could raise the dead and heal the lame. Everyone wanted to be friends with Jesus.

But is that true friendship? When people only are “friends” with you because of what they might be able to get in return, that isn’t really friendship. It’s just a surface relationship that goes away as soon as you aren’t able to give to them anymore. It’s an uncomfortable rejection but is it really a surprise?

Jesus was different. Everyone knew that. People didn’t think anyone of significance could come from Jesus’ hometown. Have you ever been rejected because of where you live, how you dress, where you work? It’s surface stuff that aims to make you feel less than you really are. We pretend it doesn’t matter but it hurts.

Have you ever been rejected because of your age, either younger or older? What about your skin color? It happens all the time. We’re rejected for our faith, for our income, for our worthiness as determined by someone else. Jesus gets it.

Living a life of faith isn’t easy. People don’t understand our priorities. And we’re torn. It’s impossible to live focused on this world and serve Jesus as we should. The two don’t mix. We’ve got to reject one in order to truly serve the other. There’s no middle ground, no matter how many times you witness someone trying to straddle that road.

The world rejects us just as it rejected Him. It hurts. Jesus understands. He’s felt that bitter sting. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus. Love Him. Follow Him. You’re headed home and, really, that’s all that matters anyway.

February 28, 2018

Living Water Soothes, Heals

The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” – John 4:17-18

Have you ever wondered why this woman had so many husbands and was currently with a man who wasn’t her husband? Did you assume she was promiscuous? Did you blame her for her circumstances?

At a recent women’s conference, Bible teacher Lisa Harper said something really enlightening about this. She said that conservative theologians think perhaps the woman for infertile. That just makes so much sense.

In Biblical times, a man could divorce a woman for really no reason. If the man got tired of her, he could simply give her papers and send her on her way. It was an awful existence for women of that day. How were they supposed to survive without a husband to provide for their needs?

A man was esteemed by the sons he fathered. No sons? Well, that just wasn’t acceptable. Every family needed sons to carry on the family name and care for his elderly parents when the time came.

A woman who couldn’t have children was a worthless liability. That would have been me. Can you imagine the heartbreak of repeated rejections because of something she couldn’t help or control?

Then Jesus met her at the well and He offered to fill her up with living water. Jesus said He would take away the ache that barren arms felt. Jesus said He would welcome her no matter what her past. Jesus said He would make sure that she was never thirsty, never alone, again.

This woman knew rejection. She knew it from her husbands. She knew it as a Samaritan or mixed-breed. She knew it in a way that few people could understand. There was a reason why she was at the well when no one else was near. The sting of rejection makes us want to withdraw into ourselves.

Jesus met her where she was. He didn’t look down at her. He didn’t tell her to clean up her act and then she could enter into His Presence. Jesus welcomed her, taught her with kindness, and showed her a different way.

How different are so many Christians of our day? We don’t want to allow anyone tarnished into our midst. We lecture and wag our righteous fingers at people we see as fallen, dirty, not worthy of Jesus’ blood. People just like us.

Maybe that’s why we are so judgmental. We don’t want to see our ugly reflections looking back at us. Maybe if we surround ourselves with people just like us, we can forget the many mistakes that mark us as sinners.

This woman was so grateful, so overjoyed, so filled with love for Jesus. She rushed back to her town and told everyone about what this stranger, this Jesus, had done for her. How many people have you told about what Jesus has done for you?

Rejection hurts. It bruises our souls in the deepest, darkest places. Only Jesus can fill us up again. Reach. Take. Drink the living water. Feel its cool taste as it soothes the ache deep inside. Then offer a drink to those near you. Share the good news of salvation. There’s plenty for everyone – if they only knew.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Blessings Come From Rejection

Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” -- John 7:14-15

They were desperate for Sunday school teachers. They said so. The nominating committee just couldn’t find enough volunteers for all the classes. So I volunteered. That is what we’re supposed to do, isn’t it? That was what they wanted, wasn’t it?

Well, as it turned out, not exactly.

See, I wasn’t raised in church. I didn’t grow up learning all the little songs and books of the Bible. I was baptized at age 18 and attended different churches over the years. I loved to read the Bible but I didn’t develop a deep desire to study it until later in life. And that all meant I didn’t qualify to teach at their church.

Oh, they never said it out loud. This is the Deep South and that wouldn’t have been polite. But the only class they had available for me -- despite their comments of desperation -- was for the three-year-olds. I guess they figured I couldn’t mess that up. We’ll never know because I just said no.

It worked out for the best just as, I’m sure, God planned it. A year or so later I ended up in a different church that welcomed outsiders into their fold. Two years later I was teaching an adult Sunday school class and leading a women’s Bible study. I never really expected it. I simply wanted to learn and God opened doors I thought were closed forever.

Last Sunday at this church a young man gave an emotional testimony of heartache and faith. He spoke of falling away from Christ, of drugs and jail and hurt. And redemption. Because this was truly a story of how God can take a broken life and use it for good if we’ll only trust Him.

This young man now teaches Sunday school at a small church in a neighboring town. I think I’d like that church. What wisdom to take a broken vessel and put it where others can see and learn and grow from its lesson. This young man is an inspiration to us all. “I was lost but now I’m found,” echoes through my mind.

Many of us don’t have pretty stories of faith and stellar lives. We are broken people who cling to Christ as our anchor in a stormy life. But God can use us if we’ll open up and let Him. We can show others who are lost, hurting, different, that it’s okay to meet God where you are. The altar is open. The living water is free.

I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like without the rejection I faced. It likely would have been somewhat normal but not nearly as rich and rewarding. God had a plan that led me to where He wanted me to be. There’s a rightness to it. A blessing that has emerged from a painful time.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Give God Your Pain and Suffering

Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. -- Psalm 27:10

I was 15. And I was just so tired of trying. Of hurting. Of being rejected again and again, day after day.

So I made a decision. With her words of hatred echoing in my mind, I planned it down to the last detail. The notes were written. I felt a peace that can only come after deep despair.

All that remained was to wait until night, when their family was asleep. This was one thing I wanted to do without an audience of critics. I grabbed a tattered Bible, a hand me down that I treasured, and headed outside.

Tears streamed down my face as I sank to my knees. I held the faded black book to my chest, as a parent might hold a small child close. It was the closest I got to hugs most of the time.

I wiped my eyes and opened the Bible. My eyes fell on this Scripture from Psalms. I’m sure it doesn’t seem like much to some but to this battered teen desperate for love and acceptance, it was everything. It gave me enough hope and courage to put those plans aside and hang on for another day, another week, another year.

That’s the day, the moment, when the Holy Spirit entered me. I know many people view their Baptism as “the” day but for me it was that afternoon when I was all alone and He came to me. And changed me.

Some memories never fade and that is one of them. Perhaps it has been on my mind more lately because several people -- none that I’ve known personally -- have committed suicide. I see families and friends struggle with heartbreak and questions that will never really go away.

And I remember how close I came to ending it all because I’d lost hope that tomorrow would ever be a better day. That’s what Jesus gives to us -- hope. A promise that God is with us, that He never leaves us. Strength to make it through the hard times of failure and rejection, hopelessness and despair. A light that reminds us that no matter how dark life seems, there’s a candle flickering ahead to beckon us forward into another day.

I somehow want to tell those who are lost, who feel forgotten, worthless, desperate, that there is an answer that promises life. His name is Jesus Christ. And He’s waiting for you to call His name.

That’s what I did that day. I didn’t even know it at the time. But in desperation I cried out to God -- and He heard me. He answered me. He saved me. And He’ll save you too, if you’ll only trust Him with your life.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Jesus Understands Your Pain

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. -- Luke 4:28-29

It’s amazing how we skim over things sometimes. This verse comes right after Jesus took the scroll and read from Isaiah. We remember that part. And we know Jesus didn’t stop there. He was and is the voice of truth and those listening didn’t want to hear what He had to say about them.

We know that Jesus suffered and died for us on the cross. But how often do we consider that Jesus suffered long before He reached the cross? We don’t. And maybe skimming over that very real truth causes us to disbelieve that Jesus really, truly understands our pain.

Think about it for a minute. Those around Him, those in leadership positions, hated Jesus and wanted Him dead. He was criticized for being gracious to sinners, sharing meals with them and forgiving them. He was condemned for healing on the Sabbath.

One of His trusted friends betrayed Him, and this after Judas stole money from the moneybag the disciples had entrusted to him. Peter, the man who vowed to stand beside Jesus no matter what, denied Him three times. Thomas doubted Him. Jesus begged His friends to stand watch with Him, and yet they slept, unable to perform even that simple request.

And, still, we think Jesus doesn’t understand how it feels to be rejected by those whose opinion we value. He does. And we don’t consider that Jesus knows what it’s like to tell a secret to a trusted friend and learn that the secret was told to everyone else. He knows. And we don’t believe Jesus feels the sting of rejection from a dear friend. He does.

Jesus is so much more than the God-Man who died for us on the cross. We focus on that, naturally, because belief in the cross and resurrection is the foundation of our faith. We can endure the cross because we know the outcome. We see the resurrected Christ. We behold the scars and know the glory.

And we skim past the three years leading up to those final moments. How hard it must have been for Him to feel the pain of constant criticism, to be wary of those who wanted Him dead. And yet Jesus continued to do good. He told us to love our enemies. He told us to do good to those who harmed us. We think Jesus doesn’t understand our circumstances. The truth is that we don’t understand His.

Pain is inevitable on this earth. Some of it comes from the very humanness of our relationships with others. We are imperfect people struggling to survive in an imperfect world. We let people down. We betray people we care about. We deny who we are to impress those we shouldn’t. Jesus understands it all. He forgave us on the cross, knowing that we didn’t understand what we were doing.

So the very next time someone lets you down, take it to Jesus. The next time someone betrays you or hurts you, take it to Jesus. He understands your pain. Really. Truly. He does.

Friday, August 13, 2010

God Saves Us From Enemies

"Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble."

-- Psalm 69:17

Did you know that Psalm 69 is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament? I didn't either until I read my trusty Bible footnotes. I'm not surprised. In this psalm, David cries out to God for help. Jesus quoted from Psalm 69. So did Paul.

I love this psalm because it reminds me of a child crying out to her Father, her Yahweh, for help. Haven't we all been there at some point in our lives? Sometimes it is illness that brings us to our knees in pain and anguish. Sometimes it is loss. Other times it is the lies and deceit of those who would destroy us to protect themselves. The cause doesn't matter. We are hurting and we want God to fix it and place His soothing hands on our lives.

Sometimes the most bitter rejection comes from people who claim to bask in His light but who really live in darkness. They use lies to cover themselves, throwing out scripture as if it would make it all okay. It doesn't, of course. God knows our hearts. We can't hide anything from Him. I am thankful for that. I know He sees me, He searches my soul, He knows my heart's love for Him. And He knows the deceit of others who seek to destroy in order to build themselves up.

No matter the voices that cast down on me, I am strengthened by His Presence. His healing light surrounds me, providing protection from hurtful words. His love lifts my broken spirit up again and prepares me for another day. He shields me with arms stronger than the might of any human. He saves me. Again and again. He saves me.